Shoe clamp



Aug. 8, 1939. w. G HEIBER ET AL 2,168,935

SHOE CLAMP Filed Jan. 14, I958 4 William Gfieiber Emil R.Meng

.I. N VEN TORS ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 8, 1939 UNITED STATES SHOE CLAIVIP William G. Heiber and Emil R. Meng, Rochester, N. Y., assignors to said William G. Heiber, doing business as William Heiber &

Son, Rochester, N. Y.

Application January 14, 1938, Serial No. 185,031

7 Claims.

This invention relates to a shoe clamp, with reference more particularly to the general type of clamp that is utilized for holding a prewelt shoe on a last while cementing or otherwise affixing a sole thereto, and it has for its purpose to afford a clamp that can be more accurately positioned in relation to the upper so as to insure greater uniformity in the manufacture of shoes and a superior product.

In a more particular aspect, the invention has to do with a clamp that is engageable between the welt and upper of a prewelt shoe and is intended to provide such a clamp with simple, practical and eflicient means to insure positioning the clamp uniformly on different shoes and maintaining the proper relationship between the clamp and the heel portion of the upper, thereby preventing the clamp from extending between the upper and welt to a greater extent at the heel portion than at the toe portion, or to varying degrees on diiferent shoes.

The invention has for its further object to afford structure involving a positioning member mounted on one of a pair of clamping plates, which may be controlled by a guiding means on the other clamping plate to actuate the positioning member against the heel portion of a shoe upper as the clamping plates are closed or actuated toward each other, so that the position of the clamp endwise of the shoe is always in established relationship to the heel portion of the upper.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts that will appear clearly from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, the novel features being pointed out in the claims following the specification.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a shoe clamp showing the application thereto of a preferred embodiment of the invention, the parts being shown in the position when the positioning member is initially engaged by the guiding means just before closing the clamp, the shoe being removed;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the position of the parts when the clamping plates have been moved to clamping position and the positioning member is in its final or clamping position;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction indicated;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view on the line 44 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction indicated, and

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction indicated.

The present invention is intended for use in conjunction with a shoe clamp of the general form illustrated in Patent No. 2,066,148, dated December 29, 1936, in the practical operation of which it has been found that owing to irregularities in the attaching of a welt to an upper, or to inaccuracy on the part of the operator, the clamp sometimes bites in too far at the toe or heel portion of the shoe, in the absence of means to insure uniform engagement at both ends of the shoe, and the present structure is intended to overcome this objection by always positioning the clamp in a predetermined endwise relation to the heel portion of the upper.

Referring more particularly to the drawing in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the several views, I and 2 designate the two clamping plates pivoted together at 3 and each including an inclined inner portion 4 terminating in an edge that is engageable between the welt and upper of a shoe, in accordance with the practice known in the art. The two clamping plates are brought into clamping relation and retained by an operating lever 5 pivoted to the clamping plate I at 6 and having pivoted thereto a U-shaped retaining member I that is engageable with the shoulder 8 of the clamping plate 2 to hold the plates closed when lever 5 is operated to the position illustrated in Fig. 2.

The parts thus far described are similar to the construction of the earlier patent referred to above, and in order to carry out the purposes of the present invention, a positioning member 9 is provided, the same being pivotally mounted on a support or block I0 that is slotted at I I and adjustably held on the clamping plate 2 by means of the bolt I2 which extends through said slot I I in the block I0 and secures the latter in the desired position of adjustment on the clamping plate 2.

The positioning member 9 swings on a post I3 that is carried by the support or block Iii and is arranged at an angle to the vertical, the positioning member 9 and block I0 having meeting or engaging surfaces arranged approximately parallel to the inclined surface 4 on the clamping plate at the rear or heel portion where the positioning member engages, so that as the latter moves into clamping position, it swings slightly downwardly over said inclined surface 4 to hug the heel portion at its bottom part.

The positioning member is provided with a shoe-engaging surface that is curved both vertically and transversely to conform to the contour of the heel portion of the upper, its bottom part extending slightly in between the welt and upper while its upper portion extends upwardly from its operative position, as shown in Fig. 1, such movement being limited by the stationary stop l4. This movement is provided for so that it will not scrape the shoe upper as the two clamping plates are brought together, and in order to effect inward movement of the positioning member, a guiding means is located on the clamping plate I preferably in the form of a post l5 that is surmounted by a plate It adapted to overlie the free end of the positioning member, while the post or guiding means l5 engages the side of the free end of the positioning member and causes it to move inwardly from the position shown in Fig. l to that shown in Fig. 2, in which it is operatively positioned for engagement with the heel portion of the upper. In order to vary the extent of movement of the positioning member, depending upon the weight or thickness of the upper stock, the guiding means or post i5 is held in position by a bolt I! that is eccentrically mounted with relation to the post l5 so that by loosening the bolt I! and turning the post I5, the latter can be adjusted to effect more or less inward movement of the positioning member.

While the invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment, it is not confined to the details herein shown, and this application is intended to cover any modifications or departures coming within the purposes of the improvements or the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. In a shoe clamp, the combination with a pair of separable clamping plates engageable between the welt and upper of a shoe and means for actuating them into clamping position, of a positioning member mounted on one of said plat-es and extending over the other of said plates when they are in clamping position and engaging with the rear of the heel portion of the upper on both sides of the longitudinal center of the shoe at a point substantially above the welt and acting to locate the clamp endwise of the shoe with relation to said heel portion of the upper.

2. In a shoe clamp, the combination with a pair of separable clamping plates engageable between the welt and upper of a shoe and means for actuating them into clamping position, of a positioning member movably supported on one of said clamping plates, and guiding means on the other of said clamping plates acting to engage said positioning member and move it into operative position as the clamping plates are moved toward each other, said positioning member when in clamping position being engageable with the rear of the heel portion of the upper at a point substantially above the welt and acting to position the clamp endwise of the shoe with relation to said heel portion of the upper.

3. In a shoe clamp, the combination with a pair of separable clamping plates engageable between the welt and upper of a shoe and means for actuating them into clamping position, of a positioning member pivotally mounted on one of said clamping plates and extending over the other of said clamping plates when in clamping position, guiding means on the latter clamping plate engageable with the free end of the positioning member to actuate it against the shoe when the clamping plates are moved toward each other, said positioning member being provided with a curved surface engageable with the rear of the heel portion of a shoe upper to position the clamp endwise of the shoe with relation to said heel portion of the upper.

4. In a shoe clamp, the combination with a pair of separable clamping plates engageable between the welt and upper of a shoe and means for actuating them into clamping position, of a support adjustably mounted on one of said clamping plates, a positioning member pivoted on said support, and guiding means adjustably mounted on the other clamping plate and engageable with the free end of the positioning member to actuate it against the shoe when the clamping plates are moved toward each other, said positioning member being provided with a curved surface engageable with the rear of the heel portion of a shoe upper to position the clamp endwise of the shoe with relation to said heel portion of the upper.

5. In a shoe clamp, the combination with a pair of separable clamping plates engageable between the welt and upper of a shoe and means for actuating them into clamping position, of a positioning member mounted on one of said plates and including a siuface curved in two directions and engageable with the rear of the heel portion of the upper at a point substantially above the welt and acting to locate the clamp endwise of the shoe with relation to said heel portion of the upper.

6. In a shoe clamp, the combination with a pair of separable clamping plates having inclined surfaces engageable between the welt and upper of a shoe and means for actuating them into clamping position, of a positioning member pivoted on one of said clamping plates to swing over said inclined surface in a direction approximately parallel thereto at the heel portion, and guiding means on the other of said clamping plates acting to engage said positioning member and move it into operative position as the clamping plates are moved toward each other, said positioning member when in clamping position being engageable with the rear of the heel portion of the upper at a point substantially above the welt and acting to position the clamp endwise of the shoe with relation to said heel portion of the upper.

'7. In a shoe clamp, the combination with a pair of separable clamping plates having inclined surfaces engageable between the welt and upper of a shoe and means for actuating them into clamping position, of a support adjustably mounted on one of said clamping plates and having a surface approximately parallel to said inclined surface on the clamping plate, a positioning member pivoted to swing on the inclined surface on said support, and guiding means adjustably mounted on the other clamping plate and engageable with the free end of the positioning member to actuate it against the shoe when the clamping plates are moved toward each other, said positioning member being provided with a curved surface engageable with the rear of the heel portion of a shoe upper to position the clamp endwise of the shoe with relation'to said heel portion of the upper.

WILLIAM G. HEIBER. EMIL R. MENG. 

